Not seeing tools in the toolbox for Visual Studio 2022

Larry Lehman 10

Hi,

I am currently using Visual Studio 2022. Currently not seeing any tools in the toolbox when working with either .NET Core 6 or .NET Core 7. So I conducted the same test that someone else did on this community board. I went back .NET Framework 4.8 and opened a test project. In .NET Framework 4.8 I was able to see the same set of tools that I was supposed to see in .NET Core 6/7.

So my question: Is this a known problem in .NET Core 6/7 and does Microsoft know about this?

Ahmet Murati 0 Reputation points

2024-08-10T09:15:55.5466667+00:00

I have Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022 (64-bit) - Current

Version 17.10.5

but toolbox shows only common components nothing else everything else like TabControl, GroupBox and others are not present in toolbox
Ahmet Murati 0 Reputation points

2024-08-10T09:17:02.2166667+00:00

So, what I am doing is opening Designer file and adding all the components I need manually kinda this is embarrassing while previous versions of Visual Studio did not have this problem at all
Tianyu Sun-MSFT 30,566 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-08-12T08:13:09.24+00:00

@Ahmet Murati , what kind of project are you using? Windows Forms project?

If you try to right-click in Toolbox, select Show All, will you see TabControl, GroupBox and others? If you can see them but they are greyed out, probably they are not available for this specific type of project. Try to create a new Windows Forms project and see if they are available.

If they are not listed, please try to reset the Toolbox by right-clicking in the Toolbox, select Reset Toolbox, and add your custom controls later. Please also try to repair VS from VS Installer, More, Repair. If you modified something about Toolbox, VS, consider trying to reset VS settings(run devenv /ResetSettings in Developer Command Prompt for VS 2022).

BTW, do those controls appear if you run VS as administrator?
Ahmet Murati 0 Reputation points

2024-08-12T08:24:38.47+00:00

I added all components I need manually by selecting from the list by customize toolbox now everzing
Ahmet Murati 0 Reputation points

2024-08-12T08:26:19.9333333+00:00

I am planing to open a company and I am developing one app to manage my company. It is with Windows Forms because I know it very well I have been working with C# since 2004 when I wrote my first code in C# with Notepad and compiled with CSC compiled

3 answers

Tianyu Sun-MSFT 30,566 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-02-13T09:00:59.5633333+00:00
Hi @Larry Lehman ,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

I checked on my side, with the latest version of VS 2022(17.4.4), tested in WinForm and WPF projects(.NET 6 and .NET 7), but the toolbox showed controls correctly.

Please try following suggestions, if the toolbox still doesn’t show the controls, please kindly report this issue on our Developer Community(in VS => click Help => Send Feedback => Report a Problem…).

Try to double click the Form.cs file/MainWindow.xaml file and check if the toolbox shows the controls.

Try to right-click the white space of the Toolbox windows => click Reset Toolbox.

Try to open VS Installer => More => Repair => reboot your machine => restart VS.

If it is acceptable, try to uninstall and reinstall VS 2022.

Best Regards,

Tianyu

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3 people found this answer helpful.
Tianyu Sun-MSFT 30,566 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-02-17T09:55:24.83+00:00

Hi @Larry Lehman ,

May I ask if your issue was resolved?

These days Visual Studio 2022 version 17.5.0 and 17.5.1 have been released, could you please try to update VS to the latest version or a higher version and check again?

If you try to reset Visual Studio settings(run devenv /ResetSettings in Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio 2022), will it work?

Besides, could you please tell us what kind of project you are using?

Please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Tianyu

Tamas Svandra 0 Reputation points

2023-04-05T19:34:44.1066667+00:00

Hi I think, i have similar problem. After some update (win11- OS build 22621.1485 , VS 2022 - 17.5.3 (community)) when i open a solution or creating new project the toolbox is not shown. When i want it to turn on - after 15 secounds VS crashes, and restarts.

Tamas Svandra 0 Reputation points

2023-04-05T19:41:20.2866667+00:00

the command what you wrote helped ...
devenv /ResetSettings

Andy Cuffe 5 Reputation points

2024-01-11T09:53:01.4033333+00:00

This bug is happening to me periodically, where all of the above suggestions don't work, apart from full reinstall, which is such an inefficient solution.

Andy Cuffe 5 Reputation points

2024-01-11T09:58:12.9533333+00:00

I found a better solution, that works. Right click in the toolbox subheader -> select "Choose Items". This will rebuild the toolbox components. Wait until finished, save your project then reopen.

Jack Mader 0 Reputation points

2024-02-15T06:55:07.15+00:00

Very helpful. Thank you.

Eric Lynch 21 Reputation points

2024-08-13T13:24:20.5933333+00:00

Thank you @Tianyu Sun-MSFT

This was the most comprehensive advice I saw, so I am adding my comments here.

After trying steps 1 and 2, simply exit and restart Visual Studio. I tried steps 1 and 2. They did not work for me. Exiting and restarting did work.

Unfortunately, I can't say, for certain, if it was the combination of all three actions or the final action that was the magic sauce.

I'd add the following steps for completeness.

If you don't see the toolbox at all, try selecting "View...Toolbox" from the top menu.

If you don't see the tools you expect, try to right-click the white space on the toolbox, and check "Show All".

I started with these two steps. After this, all the WinForm controls were showing, but greyed out. I was unable to drag/drop them to the design surface.

That's when I started following the advice from @Tianyu Sun-MSFT . Ultimately, I then exited/restarted Visual Studio. I also unchecked "Show All".

I'll add one final piece of friendly advice for MS: "Maybe fix this recurrent issue?" :)
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Arimi 0 Reputation points

2023-11-30T13:59:44.43+00:00

some of my vb.net are not working whle others are working
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Arimi 0 Reputation points

2023-11-30T14:01:58.2933333+00:00

what is problem with my tools some are dull and are not working
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Tianyu Sun-MSFT 30,566 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-12-08T09:40:20.5333333+00:00

Hi @Arimi,

If you mean some controls have been listed but you can’t use them, then probably, they don’t support your project. Those listed but you can use are the controls support this project.

Try to right-click in the white space of Toolbox and check if you selected “Show All” option, if it is selected, try to unselect it. Check if the grayed out controls disappear.

BTW, you need to open the designer view(for example, right-click a Form.cs file => View Designer) first to use the controls in Toolbox.
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Not seeing tools in the toolbox for Visual Studio 2022

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